nl-Chapter 16 – The Divine Law

IV. The Law—Love of God and Love of Neighbor

The Power of the Divine Law

1. There are many people who consider My teaching to be outdated; yet the reason for this is that their materialism does not allow them to discover the eternal meaning of My teachings.

2. My Law is immutable. It is people, with their cultures, civilizations, and laws, who are transient; of all these, only that which the Spirit has built through its works of love and mercy endures. It is the Spirit who, after each day's work, after every trial, when consulting the fountain of divine wisdom, beholds the immovable rock of My Law and the ever-open book containing the Spirit's teachings. (104, 31-32)

3. I have illuminated all people with My light and thereby revealed to them the only existing truth; but you see how every person and every people feels, thinks, believes, and interprets in different ways.

4. Those diverse ways of thinking among people have caused their divisions, since every nation and every race follows different paths and upholds different ideals.

5. The majority has strayed from the path of light and truth, believing that fulfilling the Divine Law requires superhuman sacrifices, renunciations, and efforts, and has instead chosen to establish religious communities and sects for themselves, whose observance of the Law and ritual practices are easier for them to follow. In this way, people believe they can appease the longing for light and elevation that they feel in their souls.

6. Many centuries and many ages have passed without people realizing that the fulfillment of My Law is not a human sacrifice, and that, on the contrary, they are indeed sacrificing the body and soul of the world when they disregard My commandments. They have not realized, nor have they wanted to understand, that whoever lives by My Word will find true happiness, peace, wisdom, and glory—which materialistic people imagine in such a different way.

7. The moral and scientific world that surrounds you is the work of people with materialistic ideals—of people who have sought only the material betterment of humanity, and I have allowed them to do their work, to carry it out to its limits, to learn its consequences, and to reap its fruits, so that they may draw the light of experience from it. In that light, My justice will be revealed, and in that justice, My law will be present, which is love. (313, 60–64)

8. If I were to allow you to apply My teaching to your lives according to your will and not according to Mine—truly, I tell you, you would never find your way out of your spiritual stagnation and would never allow your soul its development, its unfolding, and its perfection.

9. There you see the people who have become sluggish in their religions, who no longer take a single step toward the light because they have not submitted to what the Divine Law commands, but have tried to subject the Law to their will by filling it with myths and false teachings.

10. It has been necessary for many people of this time to free themselves from all religion in order to seek Me through the Spirit and to be able to develop all those qualities, gifts, and abilities that they feel in the innermost part of their being. (205, 6-8)

The Law of God's Love in the Spiritual Work * *

11. It is your God who speaks to you; My voice is the Law. Today you hear it anew, without it being necessary to carve it in stone, or for Me to send My Word incarnated among you. It is My divine voice that comes to your spirit and reveals to it the beginning of an age in which man will become righteous, reconcile with his Creator, and purify himself, as it is written. (15, 8)

12. Through Jesus I gave you the perfect teaching. Contemplate My life as a human being from birth to death, and then love will reveal itself to you in a living and perfect way.

13. I do not demand that you be like Jesus, for there was something in Him that you cannot attain: to be perfect as a human being, since He who was in Him was God Himself in a limited form. But I tell you nonetheless that you should emulate Him.

14. My eternal law has always spoken to you of this love. I told you in the early days: "You shall love God with all your heart and with all your soul," and "Love your neighbor as yourself."

15. Later, I gave you these inspiring words: "Love your brothers and sisters as the Father has loved you"; "Love one another."

16. In this time, I have revealed to you that you should love God more than all created things, that you should love God in all that exists and all that exists in God, that you should show mercy and mercy again to your fellow human beings, so that you may see the Father in all His glory; for mercy is love. (167, 15-19)

17. I do not even tell you that this spiritual teaching will be the world religion; for I have never brought religion, but rather the Law. I limit Myself to telling you that the law which will triumph on earth and have lasting validity there, to enlighten the existence of mankind, will be the law of love, which I have explained to you in My teaching so that you may fully understand it.

18. Humanity will still perform many false acts of love and charity until it learns to love and to practice true acts of love, and many will still have to wander from denomination to denomination until their spirit soars to higher understanding and they finally comprehend that the only law, the universal and eternal teaching of the Spirit, is that of love, to which all will come.

19. All religions will disappear, and what will remain is only the light of the Temple of God, which shines within and without man—the Temple in which you will all offer a single worship of obedience, love, faith, and good will. (12, 63–65)

The Disregard of the Divine Laws and Their Consequences

20. On this morning of solemn remembrance, I ask you: What have you made of the Law that I sent to humanity through Moses? Were these commandments given only for the people of that time?

21. In truth I tell you that that blessed seed is not in the hearts of men, for they neither love Me nor love one another; they neither honor their parents nor respect the property of others; on the contrary, they take one another's lives, break their marriages, and bring shame upon themselves.

22. Do you not hear lies from every mouth? Have you not realized how one people robs another of peace? And yet humanity claims to know My Law. What would become of people if they were to forget My commandments entirely? (15:1–3)

23. In the "Second Era," when Jesus entered Jerusalem, he found that the temple—the place consecrated to prayer and the worship of God—had been turned into a marketplace, and the Master, filled with zeal, drove out those who were desecrating it in this way, saying to them, "My Father's house is not a marketplace." These were less guilty than those charged with guiding the spirits of men in the fulfillment of God's law. The priests had turned the temple into a place where ambition and a love of splendor reigned, and that reign was destroyed.

24. Today I have not used a scourge to punish those who desecrated My law. However, I have allowed the consequences of their own transgressions to make themselves felt in people, so that they may know how to interpret their meaning and understand that My law is unyielding and immutable. I have shown man the way, the straight path, and if he strays from it, he exposes himself to the hardships of a just law, for in it My love is manifested. (41, 55-56)

25. I will rebuild My temple—a temple without walls or towers, for it is in the hearts of people.

26. The Tower of Babel still divides humanity, yet its foundations will be destroyed in the hearts of men.

27. Idolatry and religious fanaticism have likewise erected their high towers, but they are fragile and must come crashing down.

28. Truly, I tell you, My laws—both divine and human—are holy, and they themselves will judge the world.

29. Humanity does not consider itself idolatrous, yet truly, I tell you, it still worships the Golden Calf! (122, 57)

30. Chaos has returned because there is no virtue, and where there is no virtue, there can be no truth. The reason for this is not that the law which the Father gave to Moses lacks power, nor that the teaching of Jesus applies only to times past. Both are eternal laws in their spiritual essence. But realize that they are like a spring whose water no one is forced to drink, but that everyone who approaches this fountain of love does so of their own accord. (144, 56)

31. Interpret my teaching correctly; do not think that my Spirit can take pleasure in seeing your sufferings on earth, or that I come to take away everything that brings you joy in order to delight in it. I come so that you may acknowledge and respect my laws, for they are worthy of your respect and attention, because they bring you bliss when you obey them.

32. I taught you to give to God what is God's, and to the "emperor" what is the "emperor's"; yet for the people of today there is only the "emperor," and they have nothing to offer their Lord. If you would at least grant the world only what is necessary, your sufferings would be less. But the "emperor," whom you allow to dictate your every action, has imposed absurd laws upon you, has made you slaves, and takes your lives without giving you anything in return.

33. Consider how different my law is, which binds neither the body nor the soul. It only persuades you lovingly and guides you with kindness. It gives you everything without self-interest or selfishness, and it rewards and compensates you for everything in due course. (155, 14-16)

The Fulfillment of the Highest Law

34. When the Lord said to you, "You shall love God with all your heart and with all your soul, and your neighbor as yourself," and if the Master preached to you the teaching of love, then this spiritual voice, which comes from the same source, tells you that you should cling to the law of love, because it possesses a power that not even the greatest armies of the world possess, and that your conquests will be secure and lasting, because everything you build upon the foundations of love will have eternal life. (293, 214 67)

35. I show you the true life of the soul so that you may not live under unjustified threats and fulfill My Law not merely out of fear of punishment, as spoken to you by those who did not know how to interpret My Word correctly.

36. Grasp My Law; it is not complicated or difficult to understand. No one who knows it and follows it will be put to shame, nor will they give room to false words or predictions, erroneous ideas, or poor interpretations.

37. My law is simple; it always points the way you should follow. Trust in Me; I am the Way that will lead you to the white, shining city, to the Promised Land, which keeps its gates open in anticipation of your arrival. (32, 9)

38. When will you finally be convinced that only by fulfilling My Law can you find health, happiness, and life?

39. You acknowledge that there are principles in material life to which you must adapt in order to survive. But you have forgotten that there are also principles in the spiritual realm that must be respected so that humanity may partake of the source of eternal life that exists in the Divine. (188, 62)

40. Remember that I alone am your salvation. In times past, in the present, and in the future, My Law has been, is, and will be the way and the guide for your souls.

41. Blessed are those who rely on My Law, for they will never go astray at the crossroads. They will reach the Promised Land and raise the song of triumph. (225, 31-32)

42. I know that the greater your knowledge becomes, the greater your love for Me will be.

43. When I say to you, "Love Me"—do you know what I mean by that? Love the truth, love goodness, love the light, love one another, love true life. (297, 57-58)

44. I want you to love one another as I love you, and also to love yourselves. For I have not only entrusted you with the guidance and leadership of a certain number of people, but the first duty you have toward Me is to take care of yourselves. You are to love yourselves, in the knowledge that you are the living image of your Creator. (133, 72)

45. The mission I have entrusted to My people on earth is great and very delicate. That is why I have sought them out in every age to inspire them with My Word and reveal to them a little more of the content of the Law.

46. The Law of Love, Goodness, and Justice has been the spiritual heritage that I have brought to them throughout the ages. From lesson to lesson, I have guided humanity to the understanding that the Law can be summarized in a single commandment: that of Love. Love the Father, who is the Author of life; love your fellow man, who is part of the Father; love all that the Lord has created and ordained.

47. Love is the foundation, the source, and the seed of wisdom, greatness, strength, elevation, and life. This is the true path that the Creator has laid out for the soul, so that from stage to stage and from dwelling place to dwelling place, it may feel ever greater closeness to Me.

48. If, from the beginning of time, humanity had made a service to God out of spiritual love, instead of falling into idolatrous rites and religious fanaticism, this world—which today has become a valley of tears due to the fear and misery of humanity— a valley of peace, in which souls would earn merits to reach, after this life, those spiritual abodes into which the soul is to enter on its path of upward development. (184, 35–38)